New Version of This Multimedia-friendly Operating System
If you remember just a short time ago in this very journal, I reviewed BeOS 3, from Be, Inc. BeOS' claim to fame was, and still is, in part, its heavy media orientation. Previous incarnations of the BeOS centered on creating rich multimedia objects, and were optimized for high audio/video performance. With BeOS Release 4.5, the whole OS has been beefed up, producing faster, more stable, and more enhanced graphical capabilities while also changing the focus of the OS somewhat.
July 10, 1999
BeOS 4.5 has recently undergone a realignment of purpose. With the new focus, dubbed "The Internet Appliance Initiative", Be is hoping to give a second life to the BeOS by positioning it for use in low-cost Internet personal access devices. For those who've never hear of an "IPAD", they are simply stripped down PC's and other devices used strictly for Internet access. A good example of this new trend is the iToaster from Microworx. The iToaster is a basic Pentium class machine that lacks a CD-ROM and floppy drive, but is tuned for Internet usage. The theory behind this type of IPAD is that most users today buy PC's for Internet access, and find themselves trapped under a deluge of technical problems, many of which are traced back to the base operating system. With the stability and security offered by having BeOS installed, the IPAD manufacturers hope to create a one-mission system that requires little, if any, technical support.
With this new direction, BeOS 4.5 stands a good chance at taking away market share from low-end operating systems such as Windows CE and the like. Whereas Windows CE is built for very simplistic devices, BeOS is a full power TCP/IP enabled platform. Features such as multi-processor support (up to 8 processors are supported natively), quick booting (less than 20 seconds under normal conditions), built-in Web browsing, and protected memory (keeping a crashed app from taking out the system) simply blow away Windows CE, and certainly give Win98 a run for its money.
You're probably wondering why I'm covering BeOS again, when I covered it just a few short months back. There are actually several good reasons, and so I will break them down for you.
First off, if you're the graphics maven of your firm, you know how certain operating systems are simply not optimized for working with large multimedia files. Non-media-centric operating systems have a tendency to bog down and finally crash when placed under heavy design loads. This is not the case with BeOS, where you can work with literally dozens of graphics files, and the system will keep on chugging.
The speed of the OS is comparable to that of most Linux/UNIX systems. If you enjoy clicking on an icon and watching the application immediately spring to life, you'll truly enjoy the BeOS experience. According to the product literature, the BeOS boots in less than 20 seconds, which under testing proved to be true. Although you'll rarely find yourself rebooting your system, you'll appreciate the speed of reboots when you do.
If you're the systems administrator of your firm, BeOS can help satisfy your needs in two ways. First and foremost, if you're looking for something with the ease of use and multimedia firepower of an Apple Macintosh, you'll find it with the BeOS. This can be advantageous especially since BeOS can be run on IBM/Intel-based hardware, thus saving you the high cost of purchasing and supporting the proprietary hardware from Apple.
BeOS systems allow the administrator to customize and then lock down a workstation, preventing end users from installing software at whim. This will certainly help reduce support headaches. The BeOS interfaces are modular, allowing administrators to use plug-ins to create custom workstations.
Lastly, if you're part of IS management at your firm, BeOS alleviates the cost burden of purchasing proprietary hardware, while providing extreme levels of reliability and usability for the end users. As many firms are moving to Web-based applications for both internal and external use, the speed, reliability, and inherent TCP/IP capabilities of BeOS make it a perfect fit for the modern office needing a simple OS to use and administer.
As an overall OS, the BeOS is a good system. With a 64-bit journaling filesystem, there are no headaches when dealing with large hard drives, nor is there such a high risk of losing data during a system outage. Multiple filesystems are supported (HFS, Fat16, Fat32, etc) allowing users to access data in a mixed operating system environment. I particularly enjoyed being able to simply point-and-click my way through the three filesystems (Linux ext2, Windows Fat32, and BeOS format) on my hard disk.
So where does BeOS fail? For starters, there's the lack of Java support in the Web browser. There are simply too many Web sites using Java today to allow any Web browser to be without support for the language. I had hoped for an alternative Web browser for BeOS, but alas, I was stuck with the pre-installed one. This will definitely be a problem if you plan on using your BeOS box to develop Web sites.
Applications are at present less than stellar, and that's being kind. While the handful that come with the operating system are acceptable (the 3D audio mixer is the most interesting of the lot), most are lacking in enhanced feature sets. Marketing literature claims over 1,000 applications for BeOS and while this seems to be true, what is available is pretty primitive.
If you're looking to compare BeOS to other operating systems, here is my two cents worth. Comparing Windows 95/98 to BeOS is simply unfair, as Microsoft's OS has the lion's share of development efforts the world over. Microsoft is simply ahead of the game when it comes to pre-packaged applications, although their base operating system is in my mind inferior to its competitors.
As for a comparison to the Mac, both OSs are very close in look and feel, though I find BeOS quite a bit faster and friendlier (could it be, something friendlier than the Mac?). And of course, BeOS will run on non-Apple hardware, making it far more accessible.
And of course, everyone is comparing BeOS to Linux, which is an unfair fight, to say the least. Linux still carries the techie feel to it, and lacks the friendliness of BeOS. However, Linux has more and better applications in my opinion than BeOS, and is almost the "trendier" OS of the moment. Linux also has a current version of Netscape, which BeOS is lacking, and better HTML editing tools than BeOS. Personally, I prefer Linux to them all, with BeOS following with a close second for its speed and stability.
So, to wrap it all up, if you're looking at deploying an inexpensive, easy-to-maintain operating system, BeOS 4.5 may be right up your alley. However, if you're looking for something more complete, then you may need to look elsewhere. The BeOS, as I see it, will breathe new life into the thin Internet client category, but it will not surpass the completeness of other operating systems for home and office productivity.
Resources
iDot (Producer of BeOS based-Internet PC)
http://www.idot.com
9715 Burnet Road
Building 6, Suite 100
Austin, Texas 78758
(888)-388-idot
Microworkz (Producer of BeOS-based Internet PC)
http://www.microworkz.com
20121 48th Ave W
Lynnwood, WA 98036-6604
1-888-306-2044
Ted Brockwood is the Information Services Manager for a real estate listing service in Oregon. His experience covers Java, Linux, UNIX, NT, Win95/98, Win3.x, and DOS.
